[Update on vesical electrostimulation and neuropatic bladder in pediatrics: A sistematic review]

Bladder neuromodulation has emerged as a new alternative in the management of adults with bladder dysfunctions from a neuropathic origin. Despite the fact that, numerous studies have proven the efficacy and safety of this therapy in adults' patients, there are however, still few studies that demonstrate its success in paediatric neuropathic bladder.

We perform a systematic review of the studies which analysed the impact of bladder electrostimulation in paediatric patients (0 to 18 years) with a neurogenic origin. The search identified 9716 potentially articles. Finally, 11 papers published between 1992 and 2019 fulfilled the necessary criteria to be part of our study and were selected for the systematic review.

We did not find a common trend among the results obtained from the studies included in the present review. Most of the studies demonstrated an optimal efficacy rate and high safety, but however the superiority of this therapy over anticholinergic drugs could not be established due the presented results. For this fact, these results continue to be controversial. Furthermore, the methodology between the different studies was very huge, which made it difficult to compare the results obtained from each one of them.

Given the potential risk of renal failure presented by paediatric patients with neurogenic bladder, the therapeutic alternatives used in the management of this disease must have a proven efficacy. For this reason, and after the review, due the absence of evidence regarding bladder electrotherapy in this group of patients, its use should be limited and exceptional. Bladder neuromodulation has emerged as a new alternative in the management of adult patients with bladder dysfunctions of neuropathic origin. Despite the fact that numerous studies have proven the efficacy and safety of this therapy in this age group, there are still few studies that show its success in paediatric neuropathic bladder.